Friday, February 13, 2015

Divining with the Deities (or any of the Kindred!)

Ancient runestone from Sweden
via Creative Commons

I have been practicing divination for a long time now. I made my own set of "clow cards" (yes, it was a tv show for little girls, and yes, in the absence of anything else occult, I totally lapped it up) at age twelve, staring at the beautiful art and assigning fairly arbitrary meanings. It wasn't until I moved out of my mother's house at sixteen that I was able to get my hands on an actual set of tarot cards, but it became something of an obsession after that. I've learned a lot of different methods, have participated endlessly in the assigned meanings vs. intuition debate (I fall somewhere in between), and even spent two years as an email tarot reader.

But now, I'm trying something new. When Prairie Shadow Protogrove started up, I was usually designated the Seer during ritual since I had more experience with divination systems. Actually contacting the Kindred through divination was a very new experience for me, and honestly it was also pretty overwhelming. I'm not as adept at hearing Their voices or receiving inspiration than others, and I'm afraid the Omen portion of those rituals may fallen rather flat. I also don't do a whole lot of personal divination anymore; it's difficult to find the time and proper concentration with three little ones running around.

That's something that needs to change for me. After receiving a rather scary sign in my own home, a friend prodded me to look into it further via divination. At first I wasn't really sure who to go to with my request - I like to use the runes nowadays, but Odhinn and I have a rocky relationship at best. Most of my offerings these days go to the Vanic deities. So eventually I mustered the courage and offered some honey to Freya, asking for some answers to the lingering questions the event had left. The runes aren't Her favorite (my UPG), but She was helpful enough in answering my questions.

It's a powerful experience, communicating with a deity. After I was told that Frey was the source of the omen I received, I made offerings to Him and asked some pointed questions - things like "why'd you have to scare me so darn bad?" The answer I received? "I am a God, vast and more powerful than you can conceive - that the functions of nature scare you isn't really my concern." Now, this is the type of answer I would expect from Nerthus, and a feeling I've gotten from Her many times. But Frey has always seemed so friendly and jovial. In my efforts to find the answers to my questions, I'd forgotten what an amazing thing was already taking place right there on my porch. It shook me up almost as much as the original sign had.

I'm about ready to finish up my Dedicant's Path for ADF - I've submitted the work, but have some revisions to do before I can be approved. I'm thinking about moving forward on the Initiate's Path, a guided journey designed to deepen one's inner connection with the Kindred. One of the classes is Divination 1, where daily draws and journaling are heavily encouraged. I think this is something I'd like to start pursuing even now. When communication becomes too one-sided, strange things start happening - including scary omens that show up in houses. It's time for me to open the door.

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About Me

An Earth-centered Heathen honoring the deity I see in nature, I am in the process of building a path with my ancestors, the local land spirits, and my family. I also write for Patheos' Pagan Families Blog, and on tumblr at EarthyHeathen.